Two resistors, 6 Ω and 3 Ω, connected in parallel to a 12 V supply. What is the total current drawn from the supply?

• A. 6 A
• B. 9 A
• C. 3 A
• D. 12 A

Answer: (A)

In a parallel circuit, the full supply voltage appears across each resistor, and the total current is the sum of the currents through each path. Each branch current is found by Ohm’s law: current equals voltage divided by resistance.

For the 6 Ω branch: 12 V ÷ 6 Ω = 2 A.

For the 3 Ω branch: 12 V ÷ 3 Ω = 4 A.

Add them to get the total current drawn from the supply: 2 A + 4 A = 6 A.

You can also see this by finding the equivalent resistance in parallel: 1/R_eq = 1/6 + 1/3 = 1/6 + 2/6 = 3/6, so R_eq = 2 Ω. Then the total current is 12 V ÷ 2 Ω = 6 A. The smaller resistor draws more current (4 A) while the larger one draws less (2 A), but together they supply a total of 6 A.